10 Jun 2012

Computer Love

Nowadays, the internet is where all the action happens. Your daily dose of juicy gossip, live news feeds from the other end of the world, grocery shopping or holiday bookings. These and much more can be done within minutes. It all is just a click, tap or scroll away. So should it come as surprise that relationships are dealt with in the same manner?

A few years ago, internet dating sites used to be the main way to meet new people, but with social networking sites like Facebook, it has become even easier. No extortionate joining fees and promises to get your money back if the match does not work out, or you do not find someone within a certain time frame. Now you find friends of friends sending requests and set the ball rolling. It could be a hit or miss just like online dating sites, but there is something that makes Facebook just a tad different from other dating platforms. What could that be? Possibly that "friend-of-a-friend" feeling of security. That same one you have when a friend introduces you to potential relationship material at a barbecue. The nightmare process otherwise known as the initial screening has been done on your behalf. Because your friend knows this potential person and thinks they are good people, if not, why would you have been introduced to them in the first right?

On the flip side, social networking sites and the internet in general have not made it easy on us either. There is such a mumbo jumbo of people scattered all over the world that you find yourself being on two separate continents with no other means to communicate but through chats, email or instant messaging services like Blackberry Messenger, Whatsapp and so on. In turn, an ever increasing scenario of more writing, less talking seems to develop. Having actual spoken conversations seems to be an outdated phenomenon be it on the phone or skype (another internet sensation).

So how then are two people expected to communicate face to face, if and when they finally see each other. Considering they have carried on like this and been seeing each other for a substantial amount of time, how then do they deal with conflict or even less dramatic, being in the same space together. Will they send theirs do's and don'ts to each other via chat message? Of course I am being extremely sarcastic here, but it really is worth considering whether a relationship forged over the internet and what it brings along with it, like long distance partnerships, is worth the hassle.

There have been some success stories but quite a few not so successful ones also. Even though your ideal partner may just be a flight away, it surely will need more than just the occasional meetings and phone calls to make it work. One thing is for sure, emails and BBM chats just won't cut it.

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